TAG: Mental Health

The beginning of February saw the launch of an ambitious document aiming to offer a new way of thinking about human distress. The Power Threat Meaning Framework (published by the British Psychological Society) emphasises the role of adverse experiences in emotional suffering. The PTMF also offers an alternative to more traditional psychiatric diagnostic categories. The panel discuss the how useful the document may be, and some of the criticisms which have been made of it.

In 2000 I made a short documentary about being in state care as a child. The response from the Australian government was to threaten me with legal action. I was scared because they’d nearly killed me in care. So I stopped talking about it. Fifteen years later, in 2015, I gave evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Over five years the Commission held 8,013 private sessions with survivors, and heard evidence from another 1,200 witnesses in 400 public hearings. I learnt that there were thousands of others who shared my distress. I learnt that what had been done to us was criminal, that we were powerless, and that child rape destroys children. I realised all this, and I was furious, because in 22 years of therapy these things had never been recognised.

This week John McGowan discusses whether trying to eliminate suicide entirely is a possibility or even a helpful aim.

This week’s podcast is recording of a public lecture given in our new base in Tunbridge Wells. In this talk (delivered in December 2017) our Academic Director John McGowan considers the ‘Zero Suicide’ initiative and the strengths and weaknesses of assertive suicide prevention approaches. As well as the talk, the recording features a range of contributions from the audience.

This week we tried something a little different and invited our listeners to ‘ask us anything’. Absolutely anything at all. The topics ranged from our usual territory of mental health and the NHS through to the psychological impact of Santa and the, slightly sinister sounding, ‘Elf on the Shelf’.

Theresa May’s speech to the 2017 Conservative Party Conference may be long remembered, though perhaps not for the reasons she might wish. It was thus easy to overlook some of the substance of what she said. While the PM may have been handed a P45, she is still the holder of the top job in the UK Government and it’s of more than passing interest to us that she announced the formation of an independent enquiry to review the current Mental Health Act (MHA). The review will be chaired by Professor Sir Simon Wessely and will focus on increasing rates of detention under the Act. It will also look at the disproportionate numbers of people from black and minority ethnicities (BME groups) who are detained using these powers. Ahead of the review group’s first meeting (in November 2017) we asked several of our contributors and staff what they think of the announcement and where they hope it may lead. We’re very pleased to welcome back the legal expertise brought by @THEAGENTAPSLEY and to debut our very own Maria Griffiths. So, without further ado, let’s roundtable!